


Those Who Don't Learn

by MachineQueen



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU, F/F, M/M, Spoilers, in-fighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22509577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineQueen/pseuds/MachineQueen
Summary: Edelgard is desperate to find Byleth at any cost. She'll even bargain with those who slither in the dark.Five years after her disappearence, Byleth returns to Garreg Mach with silver in her hair and Lord Arundel by her side.(The TWSITD route I always wanted)Edelgard/Byleth, Hubert/Ferdinand
Relationships: Black Eagles - Relationship, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra, Those Who Slither
Comments: 59
Kudos: 195





	1. Chapter 1

Edelgard had seen love between her mother and the late king of Faerghus, so she knew it was real. In her dreams, she saw knights and dancers attempting to court her, inserted herself into a thousand scenarios from books she'd carefully snuck past Hubert. As she got older, she realised she would fall in love with a woman. Compared to declaring war on the church, it felt like a tiny, inconsequential secret to keep. Yet she told no one, fearing it one foible too many for a future empress. 

Then she'd met Professor Byleth, a gentle tutor but a fearsome foe. In battle, she moved with all the swift surety of a well practiced dancer, cutting down enemies with precise strokes of her sword. In the classroom, she kept her voice soft but authoritative. There wasn’t a single moment when Edelgard fell in love, but a sequence of them. The professor’s hand on her back, shepherding her to safety. The look in her eyes when she said ‘I’ll protect you’. The steam from the pan reddening her cheeks in the kitchen. The tentative way she held a teacup and talked until Edelgard felt like a human being rather than merely heir to the throne. For the first time in years, Edelgard was rejuvenated. She could think beyond the war. Maybe her fantasies (Byleth claiming her at a ball, Byleth making her breakfast, Byleth at her side when the nightmares came, Byleth Byleth Byleth) were foolish but they gave her hope.

And then the professor disappeared.

There hadn’t been time for Edelgard’s heart to break properly. But the cracks were there. And now she was back at Garreg Mach, the fault lines grew even deeper. She saw the professor's shadow round every corner. 

She’d intended to go to the old Black Eagle classroom, to sit where the professor had. To see if anything of her remained. A teacup, a hair ribbon, an old jotter. A single keepsake would do. Any sign she could use to fool herself that there was still hope. 

Edelgard stood frozen in a remote corridor, utterly alone. It had taken some convincing to get Hubert to leave her side but she had insisted. She did not want to cry in front of him. Yet now she was by herself, the tears wouldn't come. A few beats more, she told herself, and then she would go to the classroom. She had accomplished far more difficult things. She could do this. 

A voice echoed down the old stone walls. 

"Your Majesty! Fancy meeting you here!" 

Edelgard refused to let herself look startled. Lord Arundel. Unmistakably. Edelgard pasted on her best steely smile, though her stomach turned. Perhaps sending Hubert away hadn’t been the best idea. Word must have gone out about her gathering the Strike Force at Garreg Mach. He was likely here to check up on her. 

She turned to face him. There was another by his side, a woman whose shape she half recognised-

As they closed in on each other, she stopped short. Her veins turned to ice. 

Professor Byleth. She wore the same determined gaze, the same confident stance. Her clothing was immaculate. But… her hair was streaked with silver. No. This was too cruel. Empress and yet Edelgard hadn't protected the person that meant most to her. It took every inch of Edelgard’s will to keep her face blank and her voice steady. Breathe, thought Edelgard. The game is the same. He just wants to flaunt his power. This is a trick. Don't fall for it. 

"Who is that?" Edelgard demanded, hating the way her voice had turned shrill. 

Byleth's face crumpled. She had never been one for an abundance of emotion - a ruse then, as Edelgard thought. She did her best to ignore the spark of hope attempting to reignite her heart. 

"Edelgard? Don't you… recognise me?" 

"Why would I recognise a puppet?" Edelgard spat. "You cannot fool me with a face changer."

Lord Arundel’s hand clamped over Byleth’s shoulder. He looked at the professor with a gentle regard, like she was his favourite hound. He’d used that look on Edelgard more times than she could count. 

"I assure you, Your Majesty. She is the real thing."

"...I was sleeping.”

Five years. Five years and ‘I was sleeping’ the only explanation. It was so...Byleth. 

“Tell me something,” insisted Edelgard. “Tell me something only the professor would know.”

A blink. A wounded gaze. And then “You told me you had ten siblings who died. You still dream about them.”

Edelgard’s breath caught. It would have been perfect, if Arundel hadn’t already known that. She needed something else. Something to convince her this wasn’t the cruelest of doppelgangers. 

“Tell me my favourite tea.”

“Bergamot. Or Hresvelg.” 

Right answer. But one more question, just to be safe...something Arundel would never know and few could find out. 

“Tell me Hubert’s favourite tea.”

“...Hubert doesn’t really care for tea.”

Edelgard took a breath. She pinched the back of her wrist to check if she was dreaming. It hurt. She pinched harder, watching the skin redden.

“I’m here,” said Byleth, reaching to move her hand away. 

Arundel smirked. “Don’t you wish to know how I found her Your Majesty? It was all thanks to your generosity, after all...”

Lord Arundel held a palm sized circular device resembling a pocket watch. 22 symbols were arranged on the outside. One hand was set to the Crest of Flames. The other hand was pointing straight ahead, at both Edelgard and Byleth. It was a finely crafted item. Burnished bronze and glass gleamed in the lamplight. 

“A remarkable design, do you not think?”

Arundel held the device up and walked to the left. The needle moved, pointing at Edelgard still. Just like a compass pointing north. 

"Let's try something else."

Arundel moved a dial on the side so the hand pointing to the Crest of Flames moved to Cichol. The needle spun, eventually settling in the direction of the cathedral. 

Arundel licked his lips. "The prattling General von Aegir, I assume."

Edelgard's heart thumped in her chest. She had given these shadowy allies too much. She’d only gone to them as a last hope, one final throw of the dice. Now it had succeeded, they’d expect something in return. 

"One day I'll need more than blood," pressed Arundel. "How did you take it, anyway?" 

"That's none of your concern," said Edelgard. She thought of Hubert, sneaking sedatives into tea and stealing out into the night with a syringe. Guilt sat heavy in her throat. It was one of the worst things she’d ever ordered. All for Byleth.

Byleth frowned, not quite following the conversation. 

Arundel tutted. "Are you not even going to thank me for finding your dear teacher? So impolite…"

"Thank you. That will be all, Uncle."

If Edelgard pretended to be in control of the situation, maybe it would be true. 

Arundel gave her a mocking bow before sweeping away. That left Edelgard with the professor. Her professor. The one she'd dreamed about. The one for whom she'd spent days and nights poring over maps and sending out search teams. The one for whom she’d bargained with those who slither in the deak. 

Edelgard sniffed, pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. 

"What did they do to you" 

"Do?" 

"Your hair has changed again."

Byleth seemed surprised. She plucked a lock and drew it out to look. "I woke up. Lord Arundel found me. He said he would take me to you." 

"You mustn't trust him. Not ever."

"...I am fine."

Edelgard looked the professor over. She did seem fine, just a little damp from the rain. A thousand questions burned in her mind. Was she sure this truly was her professor? But surely no mimic could know her old teacher’s mannerisms so thoroughly. No one talked like Byleth, no one squeezed as much meaning in so few words. It had to be her. 

"You do not know how I have missed you."

Edelgard reached out and Byleth came to her. Edelgard hadn't hugged anyone for a long time. To have her teacher back, warm and in her arms...it really was a miracle. 

"You're here."

"I'm here."

Edelgard let a single tear wash down one cheek. Now. Now she could cry. 

XxX

Garreg Mach Cathedral was in an appalling state. Ferdinand much preferred it in his memories. No matter how false the goddess or corrupt the Church of Seiros, it was a shame to see something so beautiful fallen to wrack and ruin. Looking at the cracked columns and piles of rubble gave him a queasy sense of guilt. It had been his emperor, after all, who’d initiated the conflict. 

He sat at the same pew he’d always chosen for choir practice. It felt strange to be there without Dorothea, the star singer. Listening to her almost made up for the fact that it was yet another area where he was only second best. 

The professor had been there too, of course. Her ghost was everywhere he turned. 

Why had they come here? Was some five year old promise really more important than the war they were embroiled in? Ferdinand shivered in the cold, dank air. He wished they hadn’t come. He wished they were winning the war. He wished he was seventeen again, dreaming of the day he would take the post of prime minister from his father. 

The words I am Ferdinand von Aegir didn’t count for much these days. 

Quiet footsteps approached from behind. Perhaps someone else had felt nostalgic for the fallen cathedral... 

"What are you doing, lurking about in here? Do you want falling debris to knock you unconscious?" 

Damn Hubert! Served him right for thinking it would be someone more pleasant, like Petra. But no, of course not. Hubert always had a knack for turning up at the wrong moment. It was as if he could sense whenever doubt crept into Ferdinand's heart. 

"It is rather hypocritical of you to chastise someone for 'lurking about'. Is that not your specialty?" 

"Then stop trying to compete."

Ferdinand considered asking Hubert to leave him in peace. Five years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated. But now they were allies. Hubert could have let him die a thousand times and hadn't. Which meant Ferdinand must be more useful to Lady Edelgard alive than dead. The thought was comforting in some small way. 

"Coming here was ridiculous," said Ferdinand. "It's just salting an old wound."

“It’s strategic,” argued Hubert. “An important point to secure before we head to Derdriu.”

Ferdinand snorted in a very unfitting way for a noble. “Do not try that with me. There are at least three more suitable camps. We are here because Edelgard insisted.”

Ferdinand waited for Hubert to gut him for daring to make such a comment. But Hubert was quiet for a long moment. Then he said: “I doubt even the combined armies of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance could have stopped her.” 

“Did you even try?” The sour look on Hubert’s face gave him the answer. “Of course not. What Edelgard wants, Edelgard gets.”

“She is the emperor. You are just a general. Who are you to criticise her?”

Ferdinand flinched. “No one at all. I will take it that as we are moving on to personal attacks, you have no reasonable defense for why we are risking our necks out here.”

“Stop being so dramatic. We are not risking anything. I thought you’d be all for paying our respects to the professor, you and your bleeding heart-”

“If that is what we are doing, then admit it rather than trying to pretend this is some great scheme in the war effort!”

Hubert was silent. He did not wear the irritated squint and curled lip from their academy days. Strange, as the argument felt like a spat from back then. If Ferdinand began a monologue on the responsibilities of being a noble, there’d be no difference. Instead, Ferdinand sighed and ran an exasperated hand through his hair. “We are here. Whether for the professor or the war matters not.”

Hubert’s look turned measured. “You miss her too.”

“Of course. She was my teacher. It was not just Edelgard who lost someone… "

And if Ferdinand had been going through his first real crush, if his heart had been broken a little when the professor told him Edelgard was the better student, no one had to know. Especially not Hubert. The closest thing in his internal dictionary to romance was probably 'necromance'. If that was even a word. Maybe it was 'necromancy.' 

"Even if it was a short time, the professor still brought us closer together. We still have our memories."

Ferdinand was quiet for a moment. He’d been expecting a scathing comment about self-pity or how grief was an unfortunate disease of the heart or something equally unhelpful. 

"Careful, Hubert. I might suspect you came to see if I was alright rather than to harangue me for something."

"... We're meeting in the dining hall in fifteen minutes. Do not be late."

Hubert left, steps quiet even in the echoing cathedral. Ferdinand was left alone with his thoughts again. If it had been back in his school days, he would have prayed. They were losing the war. When they lost, he would die and his father would become the last Aegir. The thought of it chilled him to the very bone. To die having changed nothing, achieved nothing… 

If, he reminded himself. If they lost. They weren't down and out yet. It was too soon to lose hope. Edelgard was strong. Hubert was cunning. That would have to be enough to believe in. He'd believed for the last five years. There was no going back. 

XxX

Edelgard's Eagles were noisy at the best of times but as soon as they saw the professor at her side they all started talking at once. 

"Professor! It's the professor!" 

"I am not believing my eyes!" 

To be fair to her, Byleth dealt very well with several grown men and women trying to throw their arms around her at once. Caspar got in first. Then Dorothea beat him out of the way. Bernadetta put her hands over her ears and ducked behind Linhardt, who wore a look of befuddled surprise. Petra said something about being unsure about Adrestian customs. Ferdinand stuttered out the word "N-necromancy?"

At that, Hubert snorted. "Of course not, you simpleton. What have you been reading?"

"I didn't die," said Byleth. "I was only sleeping. I'm sorry I slept so long."

Byleth held her hand out to Ferdinand. He shook it with a boyish awkwardness Edelgard hadn't seen in him for years. 

"You feel alive," he said. He looked to Edelgard, brows drawn together. 

"I knew the professor was still alive," said Edelgard. "I told you."

"We know, Edie," Dorothea soothed. "It's just a little difficult to believe…"

While Byleth answered their questions, Edelgard beckoned Hubert to her side. 

"My uncle was here," she said under her breath. "Search the monastery."

She does not need to explain further. 

"Yes, my lady."

Hubert slipped into the shadows, leaving the rest of them to fawn over their lost professor. Edelgard had forgotten how impatient she’d been at having to share Byleth. She stood, dazzled, while Byleth nodded and smiled and laughed at their chatter.

“I missed you,” Byleth said, over and over again. 

“No one is more pleased to see you than Edelgard,” said Caspar and suddenly half a dozen faces turned to Edelgard. She laughed. It felt foreign in her mouth. 

The perfect reunion. But at what cost? Hubert’s absence gaped like a wound.


	2. Chapter 2

Hubert’s jaw hurt from where he’d spent the night grinding his teeth. The Imperial Army were due to march on the Bridge of Myrrdin within the month. He had laid out the plans with neat precision - no resource wasted, no general left out of the fray. Lady Edelgard did not contest his strategy. She never did. The only one to ever offer any challenge was von Aegir. 

But the professor...the professor changed everything. If it was her. 

It felt peculiar, to be sitting down for tea like they were teacher and student again. The old Black Eagle classroom was coated in dust, lonely and neglected.The perfect place for tea and an interrogation. No one would bother them here, or at least not for a while. 

Byleth reached for one of Bernadetta’s hastily scraped together biscuits. She snapped it, taking pleasure in the noise. Then dipped it in her teacup. Hubert had forgotten she did that. If this was a face changer, they must have known Byleth personally. Or had extensive reports of her behaviours. Or his own paranoia was running his brain ragged. It wouldn't be the first time. But one mistake could mean losing Lady Edelgard. He couldn't live through that. Not again. 

“How is the tea?” Hubert asked. A pleasantry, but his sharp tone betrayed his true intentions. 

“It is fine. Where is Edelgard?”

“The war has not stopped just because you’ve returned to us. She had other duties.”

If Hubert must put up with von Aegir, the prattling noble could at least provide a useful distraction. A single pointed comment was all it took to set him yipping at Lady Edelgard’s heels. 

Byleth gave Hubert a vacuous smile over the rim of her teacup. 

Those who slithered smiled and spoke with the lips of the dead without pity. Using the professor would be the perfect way to gain an advantage over Lady Edelgard. Never mind that they were still technically allies. As soon as the church was gone, they would turn on each other. The only question was of who would strike the first blow. But if they'd wanted to use Byleth, why wait so long?

“Do not simper at me like that. You have been gone five years. Five. The world is not the same. You cannot just carry on where you left off like nothing happened.”

“I already explained. For me, no time has passed.”

“What were you doing with Arundel?”

“He found me. He brought me here.”

“And what else?”

“Nothing else.”

Fine. He’d try a different angle. 

“Why is your hair like that?”

“I don’t know.”

Hubert sighed. Slowly, he raised his untouched teacup to his lips. The earthy taste coated his tongue and made him shudder. He forced it down and resumed his questioning.

“Where is Lord Arundel now?”

“I haven’t seen him since reuniting with Edelgard. Hubert, I’ve explained all this already.”

He levelled his gaze at Byleth. She matched him beat for beat. Her eyes were as empty as they’d been in their school days. No one else had eyes like that. Why was Lady Edelgard so taken with her? Did she see something in the professor’s eyes that Hubert could not? Either way, he was almost satisfied. Just one more question.

“Who are you?”

“Byleth Eisner. Daughter of Jeralt Eisner. Professor of the Black Eagle class at Garreg Mach. Who else would I be?”

Hubert let out a long breath. As close as he’d get to a sigh of relief. “A face changer.”

Byleth’s face darkened. “The ones that killed Father. You and Edelgard have an alliance with them. I remember the Flame Emperor.”

“Yes.”

“Why? I don’t understand. They hurt people. Turn them into monsters.”

"It is our belief that we cannot win Fodlan alone. We need their aid to beat the church. An alliance was necessary."

"Was it?" 

Hubert had asked himself the same question, over and over. But the fates of Her Majesty and they that slithered had been bound long ago. There was no way to unshackle them until the war in Fodlan was won. He'd chased the logic round his head in circles and found no other way forwards. 

"All I want is to protect Lady Edelgard. And create the world she wishes to live in."

Byleth shook her head. “Such complex games and yet it all comes down to the same simple thing. Protect Edelgard. Can’t you see that when it comes to that, we’re on the same side?”

“Yes. You have my thanks. I apologise for questioning you like this.”

Hubert paused. He wasn’t sure what else he could get from Byleth. The information she’d given was sparse but consistent. There was no reason to doubt her, especially as-

Lady Edelgard entered the classroom in a swirl of red crinoline. Even without her axe, she looked ready for a fight. Her flushed cheeks indicated she’d been out in the cool monastery air for some time. Usually Hubert would have been at her side to fend off overeager soldiers with their zealous questions. He felt a lick of guilt that he’d left her to face them alone.

“So this is where you’ve both been hiding.”

“Not hiding. Taking tea,” Hubert insisted.

“And where was my invitation, Hubert?”

“You had things to do.”

“Yes, I’ve spent much of the morning discussing horses with Ferdinand. He seemed to think we were reducing the cavalry battalions.”

Hubert kept his expression carefully neutral and took another sip of the dreadful tea. 

“I’m sure I don’t know where he got that idea from,” Lady Edelgard said with a wry twist of her lips. “May I join you or are you still conducting the professor’s interrogation?”

“I’ll prepare a fresh pot of tea, Your Majesty.”

“Nonsense! This pot will do perfectly well.” Edelgard plucked a spare teacup from the tea tray and reached for the pot. Hubert leapt to his feet, snatching it away from her outstretched fingers. 

“No! It will have gone cold. I must insist.”

“There’s plenty left,” said Byleth. “Unless there’s a reason Hubert doesn't want Her Majesty to drink the tea?” The gleam of intelligence in her eyes made Hubert’s blood run cold. Had she known all along?

Hubert tried to swallow the words but they pushed their way from his mouth regardless. “The tea is drugged.”

“I see," said Lady Edelgard, ice dripping from each syllable. “With what?”

“A concoction that inhibits the ability to lie.”

Lady Edelgard sucked in a deep breath. The expression she wore was stuck between fury, frustration and fear.

“I have nothing to hide,” said Byleth. “Give me some more. I'll drink as much as you like.”

Lady Edelgard’s stare bored through him. It was rare that they fought about anything but the professor had always been a point of contention. Could they really trust her? Were they giving away too much? What if she betrayed them?

But Byleth had always stood by them in the past. Even in small quantities, the drug he’d administered was highly effective. There was no longer any need to suspect her identity, at least. 

“That won’t be necessary. I am satisfied. Welcome back, professor.”

"It’s nice to see you haven't changed," said Byleth. "Rest assured, neither have I."

Lady Edelgard took Byleth’s hand and kissed the back of it so tenderly that it made Hubert's insides curl with jealousy. He had never seen his lady display such open affections. The way he felt was his own fault, of course. When they were younger, Lady Edelgard had tried to offer friendly touch. But he’d always drawn away like her hands scalded. It was inappropriate for a servant like him to receive such gestures. Eventually, Lady Edelgard gave up and closed herself off. 

She was his everything. But he could never be hers. That was the way it had to be. 

XxX

Edelgard was caught between reprimanding Hubert and sincerely thanking him for his dedicated service. A truth drug! Why hadn’t she heard about this sooner?

“I did not make it myself and I only came upon a limited quantity,” he said.

“And where did you come upon it?” demanded Edelgard. Truth be told, she was enjoying the chance to question Hubert. It wasn’t often she could drag the truth from him. She knew more about what he got up to behind the scenes than he realised. Things had a way of trickling back, snatches of gossip here and there; malfunctioning turrets, poisoned wine, oh he died suddenly in his sleep, so tragically young. 

Then there was her uncle, who elucidated each of her wayward retainer’s exploits with pure relish. “I only tell you this to warn you,” he would say with a flash of yellowing teeth. “Dogs have a habit of turning on their masters.”

“Not Hubert,” she’d say, pride lighting her smile. Of all the dogs Arundel spoke of, hers was the best and most loyal. Hubert was her one true asset. Her best ace. 

Until Byleth, anyway. 

“I found the drug in the belongings of a foreign assassin,” answered Hubert. He did not elaborate.

“How long am I stuck with a compulsion to tell the truth?” asked Byleth.

“Only one day. I apologise for taking such drastic measures but I had to know you were truly our professor.”

“And are you satisfied?” Edelgard asked him.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Excellent. Please consult me before poisoning any other members of our armed forces.”

Hubert bowed. “As you wish.”

Edelgard allowed herself a rueful smile. She could never truly be cross with Hubert. No matter how twisted his actions, there was always an irrefutable logic in there somewhere. It made sense to check the professor's identity. Every day more enemies snapped at their heels. Of all the Eagles to serve Edelgard, Hubert was the only one who truly understood the dangerous position they were in. 

“You’ll have to excuse us, professor. There is a war on, after all.”

XxX

It was alarming how everything went back to normal so suddenly after the professor's arrival. Preparations for the attack on Myrrdin Bridge were well underway. The only break from the norm was the ladies finding time to bake some celebratory treats. Ferdinand offered assistance but Dorothea armed herself with a roll of baking paper and chased him from the kitchen. She lightly smacked his shoulder with her newfound weapon. 

“No bees allowed! Go and buzz somewhere else!”

“This is discrimination! Ow!” 

“You will be having the first treat, Ferdinand!” yelled Petra from the depths of the kitchen. She was already covered head to toe in flour. “I will shape it like a horse.”

“Whilst I appreciate the thought Petra, in the Empire we do not eat our horses!”

“Out!” commanded Dorothea. 

So Ferdinand lurked shamelessly in the dining hall. He itched for a chat. It surely wasn't a crime to break from work and seek out conversation every now and again. Besides, everyone needed food, even newly back-from-the-dead professors. As soon as he spotted her snowy white head he leapt forwards. 

"Professor! A moment of your time if you please!" 

Byleth turned. Ferdinand took one look into her sharp green eyes and promptly forgot everything he’d intended to say. It was most unlike him. He stood frozen in place, feeling a fool. The bee had lost his buzz. Surely Ferdinand wasn't feeling shy? 

Byleth saved him. "I was hoping to run into you. I'm changing Hubert's plans for Myrrdin."

Ferdinand cocked his head. That sounded like trouble. Hubert had spent days on those plans. 

“The plans are very...pragmatic. Was something not to your satisfaction?”

“They cover the most possible ground by spreading everybody out. But if a battalion gets into trouble, help will come too late. Especially for the cavalry.”

Ferdinand bristled. “I can assure you that my battalion is the best there is. We will need no help when it comes to taking the bridge.”

“I’m not doubting your skill. I’m planning for the worst case scenario. We'll implement a buddy system.”

“I beg your pardon? A what system?”

“I’ll group everybody up so there’s cover if it’s needed. I think it makes sense for you and me to coordinate our efforts on the frontlines.”

“What about Edelgard?”

“Edelgard will have Hubert. I suspect if I choose anyone else for her buddy, they’ll end up on the wrong side of a Vestra dagger. He’s already poisoned me today.”

“P-poisoned you?”

Byleth rolled her eyes. “Don’t ask.”

“He cannot just go around poisoning people!”

Ferdinand shifted on the spot, half-tempted to seek out Hubert and give him a talking to. Byleth didn't look hurt so might it have been an accident? No, said his gut. 

“Don’t be naive, Ferdinand. Hubert does whatever he wants and Edelgard lets him. That’s the way they operate. In some ways, I’m surprised you’re still here. Though maybe you won't be much longer, if he isolates you in the field like that.”

Ferdinand felt a rattle of alarm go up his spine. 

“I do not believe Hubert would deliberately put me in danger, if that is what you are suggesting.”

Byleth shook her head. “Pay no mind to me, I was angry and misspoke. He did not harm me in any case. It was just a stupid test of loyalty.”

"I assume the poison was not fatal. I am not speaking with a very lively corpse, I hope?"

Byleth froze. "I-I sometimes wonder if that's exactly what I am."

Ferdinand laughed. The professor always did have an odd sense of humour. She looked taken aback but then smiled along with him. 

"It is good to speak with you again," he said. "Perhaps we'll finally be able to break the stalemate with Faerghus."

"We will. All that and so much more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will cover Myrddin and we'll get more into the meat of the premise
> 
> This time around I wanted to focus more on setting up the relationships between the main four focus characters


	3. Chapter 3

They took tea in Edelgard's quarters, without Hubert casting a shadow over proceedings. Byleth slotted back into Edelgard’s Strike Force as if she’d never left. 

"So much has changed and so much has stayed the same,” said Byleth. She drummed her feet in a restless rhythm, another old habit Edelgard had forgotten.

"You do not have to take part in battle if you are not up to it.”

"No, I want to fight. This crest has brought me nothing but trouble.”

Edelgard could relate. Her crest was the reason Edelgard lived and her siblings died. Her crest had made her a weapon, an asset, a valued prize. It didn’t matter how well she fought, how clever she was. She was a crest first and person second, always. Thinking of it never failed to enrage her. The church and those who slithered would pay for their actions in blood, she'd see to that if nothing else. 

“Because of what happened to your father. I understand.”

“I should have been able to save him.”

_As I wish I could have saved them._

Edelgard reached across the table and took Byleth’s hand. This was the hand capable of wielding the Sword of the Creator. The hand that would win Edelgard’s war. Maybe one day Byleth would be able to lock away her sword for good and put her hands to a different purpose. Edelgard wanted to fight for that. 

“My teacher. We will have to fight Dimitri. Maybe even Claude. If they do not give us a choice, we will have to kill them. Can you do that?”

Byleth's green eyes were bright against the white of her hair.

“I chose you when I joined Garreg Mach. And then again in the tomb. I will always choose you, Edelgard.”

Edelgard’s breath caught. It was the only time she’d truly _wanted_ to be chosen. “Byleth. I am so glad we found each other.”

"It is me you want, isn't it Edelgard? And not my crest? Not just a better chance of winning the war?”

Edelgard's spirits sank. For Byleth, of all people, to accuse her of something so despicable left her raw with anger. She rose from her seat. Running had always been easier than expressing her feelings. Hubert could fetch her tea, run her a bath, buy her sweets. But he couldn’t understand her. His efforts to placate her only stoked the flames of her frustration. She didn’t want to feel like that again. She refused.

“Don’t go. I just need to know you choose me too.”

Edelgard clenched her hands. Then she took a deep breath and let herself go. It wasn't often that she raised her voice in private conversation. 

“How can you ask me that when I fell for you before I even knew about your crest? When I never dared hope you might feel the same as I? When the whole reason I started this war was to abolish the crest system that ruined my life?”

Byleth stood to meet her. Everyone was taller than Edelgard but she only really felt it with her professor. The tea sat abandoned, going cold on the table. 

“Did you really fall for me back then?" Byleth moved in. "Do you really love me after all this time? Would you die for me?" 

Edelgard tried not to think of dying. But when you try not to think of something, you think of it all the more. An entire army was ready to die for Edelgard. Yet she would not squander her short life for a single one of them. There was too much at stake. 

But Byleth was different. Byleth understood. How long had she waited to meet someone who dreamed her dream, who knew her rage, who spoke better with a weapon than with words? They were alike. And Edelgard would rather die than be alone again. 

"Yes," Edelgard breathed. 

Byleth nodded. “I would die for you too.”

_Is that what love is?_

Byleth reached for her. The distance between their bodies closed, and then their mouths. Edelgard's blood ran hot, her pulse jumped. She grasped Byleth’s shoulders, preventing escape. She wanted this moment to last as long as it could. 

Their first kiss. 

Edelgard lost her breath, her heart and her mind. And for the first time in years, she was happy. 

XxX

The atmosphere in the war room fizzled. All Eagle eyes were on Byleth. She was just as commanding as Edelgard remembered. And twice as beautiful. Edelgard drank in the details she’d forgotten - the stubborn slant of her eyebrows, the tilt of her chin, the way her soft lips formed each word so precisely. Whenever Edelgard tried to sketch her, she could never capture the right expression. There was a balance of beauty and ferocity in her that never made it on to the page. 

“...Don’t you agree, Edelgard?”

Edelgard’s heart went thud. 

“Yes, of course.”

Byleth smiled.

The professor explained what she wanted them to do at the Great Bridge of Myrddin using maps and chess pieces. She’d taken Hubert’s original plan and rearranged it to bring everyone closer together. They’d be able to come to each other’s aid quickly if the worst should happen. 

“We will be slower to advance,” Hubert grumbled. 

“But it will be more difficult to corner us,” Ferdinand countered. “I like this new plan.”

“You only like it because it puts you at the front instead of the wing. Desperate to be centre of attention as always...”

To Edelgard's surprise, Ferdinand ignored the jibe. 

“It is a logical position for me. My presence there has never bothered you in the past.”

Hubert opened his mouth to counter. If he and Ferdinand got into a debate, they’d be here another hour at least. Linhardt slumped, looking for any excuse to let his eyes drift close. When Dorothea cut in, Edelgard didn’t think she imagined the collective wave of relief that went round the table.

“I like the idea of Petra being nearby. I say we go with the professor’s plan.”

Hubert’s jaw tightened but he made no further protest. Edelgard wasn’t worried; she knew he would come around to agreeing with her. He always did - he was predictable in that way. 

At the council’s end, voices thrummed, tense and excited both. But there was only one Edelgard wanted to hear.

"Lady Edelgard-" 

"There is nothing more I need at present, Hubert. We will speak later."

Hubert shrank away. Edelgard homed in on her target. 

Ferdinand had already cornered Byleth. He chattered at her in full monologue mode. Byleth humoured him of course, as they all did. Their eyes met and Edelgard could swear she saw a plea for escape. 

"Ah! Edelgard!" said Ferdinand. "I was just telling the professor how unstoppable we have become. I am sure she will be quite impressed by our improvements in combat."

His hand came down on the professor's shoulder. Edelgard twitched. She forced her expression to remain steady. Ferdinand was just being his usual incessantly friendly self, nothing more. 

"I'm sure, Ferdinand. You must protect our dear professor in the coming battle. I'm trusting you."

"I will not let you down! You have my word, as Ferdinand von Aegir!" 

If she were tall enough, Edelgard would have patted him on the head. Ferdinand was so eager to please her these days. Like a puppy seeking treats. She sometimes caught herself wanting to be cruel to him just because she could. It was easy to pull his strings and make him dance for her. He once stood for everything she loathed about the world and it was a difficult thing to forget. 

It wasn't part of herself she liked very much. A cruel leader would not inspire an army to win a war. She must be just and rational. 

Or maybe too clever by half. 

"Ferdinand," she said, sickeningly sweet. "I think Hubert needs help with the supply run."

Ferdinand's smile dropped and his face darkened. "Why does that man never simply _ask_ for assistance when he needs it?" 

"I am sure he'd appreciate your help."

Edelgard was sure he wouldn't. But if Ferdinand was useful for anything, it was distracting Hubert. If Ferdinand got involved with the supply run, it would take longer for Hubert to bring her the day’s reports. A snatched hour Edelgard could use for her own means was precious currency indeed.

"Of course. I will go at once!"

Byleth watched him leave, a crinkle in her brow. Once the door shut, she gave Edelgard a bemused grin. 

"Quite the schemer, aren't you? Hubert asked _me_ to help gather the supplies."

"I know."

Edelgard couldn't keep the smugness out of her tone. She had a better head for tactics than Hubert thought - or maybe she’d learned from his example at last. It was selfish, she knew. But surely it wouldn’t hurt just this once. 

Tomorrow, they marched to battle.

XxX

The dry, sun-beaten air felt brittle in Hubert’s mouth. The enemy were already at an advantage thanks to his discomfort. He was eager to get the Bridge of Myrrdin battle over as quickly as possible and lamented the loss of his original plan. 

Byleth had come in with all the finesse of a tornado. She was the best blessing and the worst curse. Her hair still concerned him but perhaps she was simply another victim of Lord Arundel. If that were the case, her lack of memory was a blessing. Hubert had seen what they'd done to former victims. Their nightmarish corpses solidified his resolve to kill each and every single slitherer.

Lady Edelgard thought Hubert could vanquish her ‘uncle’ whenever he chose. He’d like to believe the same but there was much he didn’t know. If they were to fight with magic, Hubert would lose. To win he’d need every dirty trick in his extensive book. Not like now, where he was out in the open, marching under the Empire's banner. Unnatural for him to be out of the shadows, but as always, he would bear it for Lady Edelgard. To protect her. 

It didn’t take long for Empire forces to start tangling with those of the Alliance. Judith of Daphnel was a formidable opponent. Her battle experience could be the key to victory for their enemy. In comparison, Empire forces were young and prone to costly mistakes. Their main advantage was physical - they were stronger, they could hit harder. Byleth’s new strategy hadn’t taken such things into consideration.

Hubert cursed her again. Then punted a ball of magic at a line of soldiers, which eased the frustration a little. The soldiers moved fluidly to try and close gaps in their defensive line. A few metres away, Lady Edelgard hefted her weapon. She was gorgeous in battle, the swing and beat of her axe forming a steady rhythm. You could dance to it, if you were so inclined. Hubert heard it in his dreams sometimes. She charged through the gap Hubert cleared, expertly avoiding the blast radius of his magic.

In a few more blasts, the remains of the defense were gone. The rest of the Empire's forces could charge through unhindered. Hubert stepped over the bodies and searched for his next target. It was a little disappointing Judith wasn't putting up a better fight.

“Minister von Vestra!”

A messenger approached. From their dress, he knew it was one of Byleth’s mercenaries. His chest went tight. Surely Byleth had not been defeated? If anything happened to Byleth, he was not sure he’d be able to pick up the pieces of Lady Edelgard’s heart. Her smile with Byleth was more brilliant than any he'd ever won from her.

“You need to come quick, sir. General Eisner has requested back up for General von Aegir. Enemy reinforcements. She can’t get there quick enough.”

Hubert searched for Lady Edelgard. He could just see the back of her battalion - they were headed toward where Dorothea and Petra approached from the wing. Lady Edelgard would be able to get assistance if needed. But Byleth and Ferdinand had veered out on their own.

“There’s no one else closer?” asked Hubert. “It really must be me?”

“She said you’re the only one who will make it, sir. They’re going to corner General von Aegir!”

Ferdinand’s confidence must have got the better of him. Hubert made a mental note: insult Ferdinand until he understands that he is made of flesh and blood and things like axes, lances, arrows and swords will kill him.

Abandoning Lady Edelgard would be wrong. Leaving Ferdinand to die would be wrong too. If Lady Edelgard were here, she’d tell him to go and get Ferdinand. No matter how he exasperated her, he was still theirs. And as galling as it was to admit, they needed him. 

_If she dies while I am chasing Ferdinand, I will not forgive myself._

_If Ferdinand dies, I will not forgive myself._

This wasn’t his plan, Ferdinand wasn’t his responsibility and yet Byleth had put his life into Hubert’s hands. Damn that woman. 

“Tell me where. Quickly.”

No matter what Ferdinand wore, it clashed spectacularly with his vibrant hair. It made him easy to find. As Hubert got closer, he could see Ferdinand’s gait was off. He leant too far left in the saddle. A streak of blood ran down the flank of his horse. His lance hand shook. Three cavaliers surrounded him. A fourth and fifth lay dead on the ground.

Ferdinand's eyes met Hubert's. Despite it all, he smiled.

Hubert didn't return it. But he readied his best spell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Edelgard took over this chapter... She's got all these inner conflicts going on about who she is and what she should be like as a friend, a lover, an emperor and a leader. I really love her and want to build her an arc where she finds her feet.


	4. Chapter 4

Ferdinand saw Hubert. But he didn’t see the blow that followed.

Something solid slammed into his side. He fell. Somehow he managed to avoid his head cracking against stone. But then there was another hit, an axe flying straight for him. He rolled but it caught him, cleaving a bloody stripe through his body. Warm clammy liquid spread out from under him. The sky was too bright. It forced his eyelids closed.

Everything went quiet. There was only a terrifying blank sensation. Panic rose inside him but when he tried to scream there was no noise at all. Hubert, he wanted to call but there was only silence. If anyone knew this darkness, if anyone could find him there, then it would be Hubert. Wasn’t this where he made his home? No wonder he was so sombre all the time, there was no colour, no sound, no life.

And then, as if Ferdinand had never been gone, he was back on the Bridge of Myrddin. The world blinked back in a flash. He clung to the horse he was mounted on, which he didn’t recognise. What was happening to him? Was he going mad?

A figure approached. Ferdinand was relieved to see it was the professor. Byleth would be able to explain what was going on. Her white hair gleamed in the sun. 

“Professor!” he called. “I do not understand what-”

She ran at him, sword first. Ferdinand abruptly yanked on reins, a reflex to make his horse leap aside. It obeyed as if he’d trained it. But he’d remember a horse like this, bright grey instead of the more common bay.

“If you won’t give up the bridge, I have no choice but to kill you,” snarled Byleth. 

“I beg your pardon? This was your plan.”

“Teach! Hey, teach! I’m coming!”

Something chimed in his mind, a face from long ago. Claude? Ferdinand whirled to look for him but it was too late. An arrow thudded into his chest from above. The fall from his horse didn’t hurt this time.

Nothing made sense. Why would the professor side with Claude? Could there be something between Claude and the professor, something none of them had seen? The dark closed in around him and his thoughts drifted. Who was he? Ferdinand von Aegir. Ferdinand. Von Aegir. Ferdinand- 

The bridge filled his vision once again. Another unfamiliar horse, another unfamiliar view. A bad dream? He needed to stop, regain his senses. 

“Ferdinand!” Lorenz’s voice. The last he’d heard from Lorenz, he’d been getting increasingly exasperated with Claude stirring up trouble in the Alliance. They hadn’t met in person for a year at least, maybe longer. His letters were rose scented and peppered with exclamation marks. Yet at the same time other memories presented themselves - a mission given to him by Edelgard. Guard the bridge from invasion. The Empire was winning the war. 

Except they weren’t. That was why they needed the professor. Ferdinand scrambled for his memories - all those missions they completed alongside the professor. It was like they were slipping away. 

Lorenz’s hair was longer and his face sharper than Ferdinand remembered. “Is something wrong? You look pale.”

Despite taking an arrow to the chest, Ferdinand seemed uninjured. This must be a dream. A neverending dream. He pinched his wrist. The flesh turned red beneath his bruising grip. 

“Ferdinand!”

“...I do not understand! What’s happening to me?”

They were charged by soldiers before he had time to think. Blades, arrows and lances flew in every direction. There was no choice but to separate from Lorenz. At least when it came to the mechanics of battle, Ferdinand knew what to do. The soldiers attacking were marked with the colours of Faerghus. What were they doing here?

Another part of him knew. The Kingdom had rallied at Garreg Mach and begun to fight back. 

There was a feral growl. A blur of black and a rattle of metal against armour, louder than Ferdinand had ever heard. The colour of his hair gave him away - Dimitri. Next to him stood the professor. Dimitri watched for her approval after he’d cleared a path. Like a dog expecting a pat on the head. The two were together. Ferdinand’s heart hammered. Of course they were together. The professor had taught the Blue Lions. She had never been his teacher.

There was no point in trying to say anything. All Ferdinand could do was fight. He didn’t want to die. He needed to survive - there was too much left for him to do. As soon as his professor saw him, she lashed out with the Sword of the Creator. Though he dodged the first swish, it struck the flank of his horse. The animal let out a frightened cry and crumpled beneath him. 

Ferdinand scrambled for his weapon but another lash from the sword knocked it from its hands. He wasn’t fast enough to escape. He was cut down with ease.

“Make sure the Empire scum is dead.” Dimitri’s voice, harder and deeper than he’d ever heard. 

“Yes, my lord,” said Byleth.

He didn’t see the final blow. But he felt it. Pain, like he’d never felt before. And then the vast emptiness of being nowhere at all. 

XxX

Hubert did not usually curse. It was unbecoming for a noble and servant of Her Majesty such as himself to use such filthy language. But the words rose to the forefront of his mind like incantations. His magic struck down two cavaliers at once. It was like throwing a chunk of distilled rage, darkness shaped with his anger. But it wasn’t good enough. One cavalier was all it would take to end Ferdinand’s life. Not quick enough, he needed to move faster -

Ferdinand’s body hit the ground. His horse stood stock still, patiently waiting for her master to scramble back onto her back. But Ferdinand didn’t move.

The enemy cavalier raised his lance.

Hubert roared. He did not abandon Lady Edelgard just to fail at saving Ferdinand’s life. If he’d learned anything over the past five years, it was that they needed Ferdinand. People looked in his eyes and trusted him, shook his hand without thinking about what they were agreeing to. A rare gift. And on top of that Ferdinand was desperate. Desperate to be useful, desperate to be important, desperate to be noticed. All qualities that made him a dream to manipulate. A tool, like Hubert, forged in a different shape.

The cavalier went down.

Ferdinand did not get back up.

Cursing again, Hubert realised he had no choice but to run to him. As soon as Ferdinand woke, Hubert was going to slap him back into unconsciousness again. 

If he woke. 

Ferdinand’s pale face didn’t look promising. Neither did the pool of blood, staining his coat. At Hubert’s touch, his eyelids fluttered.

“I d-do not want to d-die anymore…”

“Quiet. You are not going to die.”

Hubert moved him into the best position to slow the bleeding. Lance wounds scraped either side of his torso. Hubert tried to cast a heal spell, a pathetic fluttering thing that wouldn’t take hold. Ferdinand moaned as if the magic hurt him. Around them, weapons clashed. How long until the enemy noticed Hubert von Vestra had served himself up for death? He should leave Ferdinand. But his feet wouldn’t move. 

“Hubert!”

A flap of cape announced the professor’s arrival. Finally, someone who knew what they were doing. His part was done. “I have to get back to Lady Edelgard.”

Byleth nodded. She tried a heal spell of her own, far more successful than Hubert’s. “I’ve got him,” she said. “I’ll wake him and then-”

“No,” growled Ferdinand. “Get away from me!” 

Ferdinand struck out with his fists, wild. Byleth avoided the blow but Ferdinand was frenzied. He went for her again, blood still soaking the ground beneath him. Hubert grabbed both wrists and Ferdinand writhed furiously. Of the two of them, Ferdinand would win any physical fight. It was only a weakened Ferdinand that Hubert could hold back.

“Have you gone mad? Stop this at once!”

“But she killed me. The professor killed me!”

“The professor was nowhere near you! You were overambitious as always and took on too many foes at once. You must calm down.”

“I do not understand...my head…”

“I would never hurt you, Ferdinand,” the professor said. “I saved your life with divine pulse. That’s all I did, I swear.” 

Divine pulse? Hubert didn’t know what she was talking about. Ferdinand shook in his grasp and Hubert had never seen him so cowed by battle. Ferdinand had never been one to care about his own life. As soon as he was on the field, victory was all that mattered to him. To draw Ferdinand’s attention as an enemy was a fatal mistake. Surely this could not be the same man.

“Do not leave me alone with her, Hubert. Please!”

When the victory horns sounded, Hubert had still not moved from Ferdinand's side.

XxX

Lord Arundel held a teacup with his pinkie finger stuck out, as if he weren’t a monster wearing a dead man’s skin. As if Edelgard didn’t have enough problems without these delightful tea parties. He’d brought Hresvelg blend which meant he was going to ask for something Edelgard wouldn’t like. It was pathetic to give in to such bribery but what was Edelgard to do? Tell him to take his tea and get out? It was too early for that. The Empire still needed mages and demonic beasts to win, especially if the Kingdom and Alliance should band their armies together.

“A decisive victory at last,” Lord Arundel sniffed. “That professor is truly a marvel.”

“It is as I said. It was worth pooling our resources to find her. With the professor fighting alongside us, our victory is assured.”

“Perhaps. Will you rest easy now, knowing the blood you stole went to such a worthy cause?”

His teeth, sharp and white like a feral wolf. Edelgard kept her face neutral. “I would do anything for the professor.”

“And does she return your affection?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Love is the best way to control someone. There is no force quite as compelling.”

“I am not controlling Byleth,” snapped Edelgard. “She chose me. From the beginning.”

“Always the chosen one, aren’t you Edelgard? Born under a lucky star...”

Edelgard smiled sharply. She wanted this conversation over as quickly as possible.

“What do you want, Uncle?”

“Can a man not just enjoy tea with his favourite niece? I went to such trouble to obtain it for you and this is how you treat me?”

“I am not giving you more blood.”

“Really? But I understand the Aegir boy is out of commission. If he’s no good to you, then why shouldn’t I help myself?”

Edelgard clenched a fist into the tablecloth. Ferdinand had not been himself since the battle’s end. She should have known something was wrong the moment Hubert left her side. 

“Ferdinand is not out of commission." 

She hoped. As much as Ferdinand got on her nerves, he’d always been a reliable ally. She needed every last person she could to win Fodlan. She couldn’t afford to lose Ferdinand, an expert politician off the battlefield and a terrifying general on it. 

“I am not so sure. You see, I came to report something rather disturbing. There is unrest in Enbarr. I think the city could use a visit from its Emperor, to remind the citizens what they are fighting for.”

“When you say unrest-”

“I mean riots. But I was trying to be polite. I’d take care of it sooner rather than later.”

Hubert had spoken of such riots before. The city nobles were not best pleased with Edelgard sweeping power out from under them. They had a good number of supporters behind them as well, men and women who suddenly found themselves without income from their employers. Men were conscripted into the imperial army for a living wage but not all were happy to give up their cushy lives for military service.

A return to Enbarr would be quite the journey. And Edelgard did not want to leave Garreg Mach unguarded. But it sounded as if there might not be a choice. What good was conquering Fodlan if she did not control her very own capital?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was the original premise for my fic. When Byleth uses divine pulse to save someone who dies, it causes them to remember their deaths on other routes of the game. 
> 
> I can't believe it took 4 chapters to get here but I hope it was worth the wait!
> 
> Something else to note is that I am going to diverge signifcantly from the CF canon starting here. I am dying to properly explore Enbarr!


	5. Chapter 5

They wouldn’t let Ferdinand leave the infirmary.

Linhardt healed his wounds and banned him from riding for a week. In usual circumstances, Ferdinand would grumble. Then Linhardt would tell him it was his own fault and that would be the end of it.

This time something else was wrong with Ferdinand. Not in body, but in mind. After he’d been injured on the bridge, the battle became a hazy blur. He remembered Byleth in three different ways and didn’t know which was real. The one thing he could recall with perfect clarity was the Sword of the Creator slicing through blood and bone, rendering him nothing more than a fallen sack of flesh. 

And Hubert was there. This detail he questioned, but according to Linhardt it was true. Hubert stayed with him until the battle’s end, throwing miasma at any enemy who took notice of them. Hubert must have been acting under orders - Edelgard’s? The professor’s? Ferdinand remembered shouting at him, trying to explain. But Hubert was the type who’d only believe what he could see, hear or feel. No wonder Ferdinand ended up in confinement.

There’d been no sign of Hubert since the battle. Instead, Ferdinand had been questioned relentlessly by Manuela, Hanneman and Linhardt. Manuela thought he was stressed. Hanneman thought he was tired. Linhardt thought he’d hit his head very, very hard.

None believed his experience of the multiple Byleths was real. The more he insisted, the more quiet and worried they grew. Manuela gently suggested he return to Aegir ‘for proper rest’. 

“No! I have done nothing but rest! I am _not_ going back to Aegir.”

He couldn’t help the lip tremble that followed. Every yearly visit to Aegir sapped more from his soul. Each conversation was thick with disappointment. His father could barely look him in the eye. The manor was strange too, stripped of furniture and finery and household staff. His parents were restricted to one wing, the rest locked tight while his father awaited trial. 

Ferdinand had also been forced to sample his mother’s cooking. She’d never so much as picked up a ladle before. Their miserable meals only grew more sour when Ferdinand offered to cook and did a much better job of it. The professor taught him at the Academy. He’d loved those lessons, just the two of them in the kitchen together. She’d been so patient, so kind, never rolling her eyes or sighing if he made a mistake. 

Manuela took his hand and squeezed it. “Ferdinand. You’re not well. A war might not be the best place for you.”

“I _must_ fight. I refuse to let Edelgard send me away! She cannot!”

Edelgard had already had his home, his noble status and his vengeance against his father. If she took his position as general as well, he didn’t know what would be left of him. 

“Edelgard only wants you to get better. We all do."

"I'm better _now_! Linhardt is right. Perhaps I hit my head. I do not seem mad, do I? I remember my name. I remember your name. I know what year it is." 

"All you kids seem mad to me. Edelgard spent five times as long looking for that mercenary than she spent by her side. If true love makes you crazy, maybe I’m not missing as much as I thought! I just hope it doesn’t all come to a tragic end.”

“Then please do not send me back to Aegir. Manuela. _Princess_. Please."

"Don’t you ‘princess’ me! And the puppy dog eyes won’t work either." But her mouth twitched and Ferdinand knew she was lying. "Look, I won't send you home. But you need to take it easy for a few days."

So Ferdinand took it easy. Manuela brought him a big stack of books from the library and he read until the words blurred on the page. Even the romantic novels stopped holding his interest. Usually he loved a damsel in distress. But the more he read, the sillier it seemed. He couldn't imagine any woman he knew flailing so helplessly and if he ever spoke like the knight in the story ("You are safe now, fair damsel"), he would be laughed at or insulted. 

So Ferdinand gave up on the book and tried to write a letter to his father.

_Dear Father,_

_The campaign goes well. We took Myrddin from the Alliance following the return of Byleth Eisner._

_~~I am confined to the infirmary following an injury.~~ _

~~__~~ _I am well and ready for the next battle._

_I hope you and mother are enjoying the summer season in Aegir._

_~~I regret to inform you I did not go to the barber as instructed during my last visit.~~ _

After those paltry lines, he was stuck. Should he write about the weather? The horses' meal times? He screwed the page up. What was the point? Neither his mother or father seemed to care about anything but the loss of their wealth. They expected Ferdinand to hate Edelgard as much as they did. They wanted him to find some way to topple her, and reclaim Aegir as a twisted hero. 

Ferdinand had explained, carefully, all the reasons Edelgard would be a fine emperor and why he wished to serve at her side.

“You want a world in which you would be...ordinary?” His mother’s lip curled on the word.

“I want a world in which I would be recognised for my achievements regardless of status or crest. A _meritocracy_.”

Since that dreadful conversation, the pair of them only offered stilted niceties. Though Ferdinand was glad he wasn’t the vengeance fuelled protege of his father’s dreams, it still hurt to be such a disappointment. 

No, he couldn’t go home. If Edelgard tried to make him, she’d have a one man mutiny on her hands. 

XxX

“No! No! Get off me, please no!”

Edelgard jolted awake. Next to her, Byleth savagely beat her pillow with both fists. Icy alarm crept up Edelgard’s spine. Her partner’s eyes were squeezed close, her chest heaving.

“Byleth!” 

Edelgard reached out to shake her shoulder. Byleth felt the brush of movement and with a howl turned on Edelgard. Then Byleth was on top of her, fists flying at her face. Edelgard struggled to grasp her arms, holding her still. Byleth was strong, but Edelgard was stronger. And a good job too.

“Byleth! Byleth, please! It is only me!”

Byleth went limp, collapsing on top of her. Like a puppet with cut strings. Edelgard’s heart beat madly beneath Byleth’s ear. She’d never been frightened of Byleth before. It was true that in battle, Byleth was beautiful in her savagery. But Edelgard had never seen it in the bedroom, not before now.

Maybe she should call for help. Hubert could be here in an instant. Byleth wouldn’t be able to fight two of them. Edelgard imagined Hubert with one hand over Byleth’s mouth, a drugged kerchief to her face so he could drag her limp body down into the dungeons for yet another round of interrogations...

No. She couldn’t let that happen. This was a personal matter. She didn’t need to give Hubert another reason to find Byleth suspicious. The drugged tea incident was still fresh in her mind.

Byleth groaned. “El…?” Her hands scrambled for purchase on the sheets as she lifted herself up from Edelgard’s breast. “What…?”

“You were punching the pillow. You wouldn’t stop.”

“Oh...I scared you....” Byleth cupped her cheek. “I'm so, so sorry."

“It’s alright,” said Edelgard. Relief blossomed in her chest. “I’m here for you, as you were for me. Can you remember your nightmare?”

“I was trapped. My body was pierced by a thousand needles,” Byleth pushed back her wild hair with a trembling hand. 

“Come here.”

Edelgard held her, rubbing circles into her back. It was how her older sisters comforted her when she was young. She knew the poke and prick of endless needles and wouldn’t wish it on her worst enemy. 

“Byleth. My uncle. Are you sure he didn’t do anything, apart from bring you to the monastery?”

“I don’t know. Something about me is different.”

“Yes. Your hair.”

“No. Not just that. At the bridge, I wanted to save Ferdinand. But it went wrong.”

“I fail to see how anything went wrong. Ferdinand is alive. Unless in the last three hours Hubert finally lost his patience and pushed him out of a window.”

Byleth gave a little choked noise, between a giggle and a sob. Edelgard stroked her hair, watched it gleam in the moonlight. Once, she’d been jealous of how much Byleth loved her fellow students. Now she knew Byleth loved the others like an elder sister. She’d crafted a plan to keep them all safe. Hubert’s plan would have been more efficient. But hers had been designed to protect and Edelgard loved her for it. Byleth had turned the Eagles from a band of uppity teenagers into a real family. They would never replace what Edelgard had lost but they gave her hope. The world might give her a chance yet - it certainly owed her something, after all she’d been through. 

“Ferdinand was scared of me. Like you were a few moments ago.”

“Don’t be so foolish. You startled me. Nothing more.” Edelgard squeezed her tight. “It is not like Ferdinand to be scared. The battle must have got to him, like Manuela says. It isn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Byleth let out a choked breath, the closest Edelgard heard her get to crying. “My miscalculation killed him.”

“No, Byleth,” Edelgard kept her voice gentle but firm. “Ferdinand is giving Manuela the run around in the infirmary. He lives to buzz another day.”

“I should go and see him.”

“In the morning. We leave for Enbarr the day after tomorrow.”

“Arundel told me the people are rioting.”

Edelgard shifted uncomfortably. Her nightdress stuck to her. Even the name of that foul man brought her out in a cold sweat. Arundel didn’t usually engage with anyone other than her or, under sufferance, Hubert. What did it mean, if he’d sought out Byleth?

“When did you talk to my uncle?”

“Before he went to see you. He said they required back up. What are you going to do?”

Edelgard ran her thumb along Byleth’s jaw, soothing her.

“Simple. I’ll show those nobles why they should follow me.”

Byleth managed another small laugh. Ever since her return, she’d been more expressive. It was as if she’d soaked up humanity from the world around her and infused her soul with it. Edelgard kissed her hair. She’d gone too long without anything to protect. If Arundel had set his sights on Byleth, she needed to end this war as soon as possible. 

Arundel would take Byleth over Edelgard’s dead body.

XxX

It had been too long since Hubert had spent time alone with Lady Edelgard. Taking breakfast with her felt nostalgic. Usually he slept at odd times (“Like a bat,” said Lady Edelgard) but as they were leaving the next day, there wasn’t much point starting anything new at the monastery. 

Hubert picked at a pastry, waiting for Edelgard to speak. His lady seemed troubled. She’d been utterly buoyant of late, seemingly entranced with Byleth’s every utterance. This morning she looked tired and stayed quiet. Preferable to a monologue about Byleth’s amazing toothbrushing technique, but worrying. 

“Hubert. Take the damn pastry for Ferdinand if you don’t want it.”

“I believe Manuela is spoiling him plenty enough. He is her favourite, after Dorothea.”

“Naturally. I’ve seen him turn on the charm when she’s around.” Lady Edelgard reached for her tea. “Apologies for snapping at you. I did not sleep well last night.”

“Was it the nightmares?”

Silence. Hubert recalled the years he brewed cups and cups of chamomile tea. Lady Edelgard’s whole room stank of its sickly scent but it didn’t make one iota of difference. Night after night, Edelgard quaked as he fumbled for words that might comfort her. The best he could do was list out a thousand ways to torture her captors. During those long nights, their plans for the future began to take shape. The things Lady Edelgard would do to achieve her goals. And the things she wouldn’t. 

Hubert had no such limitations. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Lady Edelgard.

In hindsight, he should have said: _I’m here_ and _Everything will be alright_ and _I won’t let anyone hurt you_. That was the kind of thing people told their loved ones while they lay sick and exhausted in the infirmary. But Lady Edelgard wouldn’t want to hear any of that from him now she had Byleth. Maybe that’s why Lady Edelgard needed her so much. Hubert could provide her weapons, maps, soldiers...but emotions were beyond him. 

“I woke up to Byleth fighting the bedding. She said she dreamt about needles.”

“Needles?” Hubert’s own skin prickled. He was sick of needles, of drawing sainted blood. Indech. Cethleann. Cichol. Every time was worse than the last. He betrayed them time after time, bleeding them like livestock. 

It was Ferdinand who got under his skin. Because of course it was. Last time he’d cast the sleeping spell, it hadn’t quite taken. Ferdinand writhed in his sleep, trying to throw Hubert away “No, please no!” The memory of it plagued him. Pleading was something he relished in his enemies. But it sounded all wrong in Ferdinand’s voice. He was supposed to be loud. Confident. Insufferable.

“My uncle must have done something to Byleth. Maybe he was the one who took her to begin with. He was just waiting for us to give him the blood he wanted.”

“And we played right into his hands.”

“No, _I_ did. I’m the one who gave the orders.”

“My lady-”

“We’ll go to Enbarr, like Arundel wants. But we won’t give him any more blood.”

“What about Ferdinand? His story is ridiculous, but consistent. He was afraid of the professor. Could she be dangerous?”

“Of course not! Ferdinand merely had a lapse in judgement. At least, I hope so. Though I am loathe to admit it, we need him in Enbarr. There’s only so much I can handle. And I hope you’ll forgive me for saying, but you are not known for your diplomacy, Hubert.”

“It is merely the truth. I assume Byleth will come with us too?”

“Yes. The four of us will relocate to the palace on a temporary basis. We will leave the rest of the Strike Force here to defend Garreg Mach. It is likely the Alliance are considering retaliation after we took the bridge.”

“Is it a good idea to have Byleth and Ferdinand in the same place?”

Lady Edelgard gave him a long look over the rim of her teacup. Her tiredness faded, replaced with something more mischievous. 

“Hubert. Are you _worried_ about Ferdinand?”

“No more than I would worry about anyone else. He might be a noble fool but he’s _our_ fool. Would you not agree?”

Edelgard’s face lightened and she laughed. “Yes, I agree. Let’s go and see him. It will not do to have our knight and tactician at war with each other.”

XxX

When Ferdinand heard he had visitors, he hoped one was Edelgard. If he could only plead with her directly, properly explain what he’d seen while he wasn’t bleeding into the ground. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious Byleth seemed. Where had she been for five years? Why had she come back? What were her motivations? Did she care about Edelgard or only want to use her?

He feared the latter. When it came to emotion, Edelgard was usually the model of restraint. But if her restraint broke…

He imagined Edelgard’s hand on the hilt of her axe, the flare in her eyes as her crest activated. What if it came to a fight between her and Byleth? Would she be able to best a holy sword and a matching Crest of Flames? When it came to Ferdinand’s own alliances, he might have faltered once. Raise a hand against his dear professor? No. But now things were different. He’d made an oath to Edelgard and intended to keep it

There was a gash on the side of his head he needed to cover up, so he wrestled his hair into some kind of submission. Otherwise, he’d been completely healed. Linhardt said he’d two broken ribs and a stomach wound. 

“Do you enjoy challenging my ability to stay conscious while casting faith, Ferdinand?”

“Why are you here if you do not want to serve as medic?”

“Edelgard. And the professor.” Linhardt did not elaborate. He didn’t need to. Whatever each of them believed, it all came down to one thing - their trust in Edelgard’s leadership. 

Edelgard was first through the door, Hubert the shadow at her heels. He tossed a brown bag at Ferdinand. It was heavy and smelt sweet. Some sort of fruit? The paper crackled as he peeked inside.

“Wait, are these grapes? How ever did you get these?”

“I have my ways.”

“I trust they’re not poisoned?”

“Not today. Though I suppose you will just have to take my word for it.”

“You are not hiding anything else in your parlours, are you? Watermelons? Bananas? Mangos?”

“Chance would be a fine thing,” said Edelgard. She looked amused. “Where are my grapes, Hubert?”

“I do not recall you being particularly fond of them. Though if you wish it, I will not hesitate to procure some for you.”

“As long as they are not these ones,” said Ferdinand. “You cannot take back a gift. It is not noble, especially as I am an invalid.”

Hubert snorted. “An invalid, are you? You look fully recovered to me.”

“Indeed! I am fine, but Manuela insisted I stay in here a few days. Perhaps she enjoys my singing.”

Hubert and Edelgard exchanged glances. Ferdinand plucked one of the grapes from the vine to sample. He worried. What if the gift was merely a sweetener? Were they about to send him home after all?

“When I last saw you, you said the professor tried to hurt you,” said Hubert. “Do you recall?”

“Of course I do. Three times I died on the bridge, twice by her hand. I know it sounds mad - but might she have some unseen power? Something that shows different possibilities for a person. For example, what if Byleth had taught one of the other classes?”

“Impossible,” said Edelgard. “Byleth would never pick another class. She’s ours.”

“In this life. But what if she chose differently in others?”

“I don’t believe it,” Edelgard said, voice flat. Her face was set in a way that meant arguing would be pointless. Ferdinand turned his hopeful gaze to Hubert. When it came to the professor, he’d surely be much more level headed?

“It seems unlikely,” he said. “There’s no record of such a power anywhere I’ve seen. There is documentation on the crests and divine relics but nothing like you just described.”

Ferdinand wilted. He’d thought his theory rather plausible. 

“There’s no point fretting over the reasons for such hallucinations,” said Edelgard. “You are fine now. And I need to speak with you about a different matter.”

Edelgard explained she was planning on a temporary relocation to Enbarr to deal with reported unrest in the city. 

Ferdinand didn’t think anyone would dare question the emperor. Or speak out in support of the shamed Duke von Aegir. Once again, he’d underestimated the lengths people would go to protect their own interests. 

“I need to know if there’s going to be a problem between you and Byleth,” said Edelgard. “The situation is delicate and I will not abide in-fighting. Do you understand?”

“I am not just making this up for the joy of it, you know!”

“I know _you_ believe what you saw was real,” said Edelgard. “But be reasonable. What would you think, if you were me?”

“That I’d hit my head, very hard,” muttered Ferdinand. “Fine. You have my cooperation, as always.”

“Good. We leave tomorrow. I will leave you to rest up.”

Edelgard left in a sweep of skirts. Hubert lurked, seemingly not finished yet. Ferdinand waited to be insulted or baited into an argument. Was he to be punished for slandering their troublesome professor? The thought put him on edge. He had to break the uneasy silence.

“Hubert, if you would like a grape you only need ask. My thanks for the gift, it is much appreciated.”

“Yes. You’re welcome. And I wanted you to know, I am keeping an eye on the professor.” 

It wasn’t often Ferdinand was utterly stunned. Of all the people he thought might believe him, Hubert was bottom of the list. 

“ _Something_ happened on that bridge. She said so herself. She used something called _divine pulse_ to save you. Sadly I was not able to elicit further information. However, your suggestion of an unseen power at work is not entirely unreasonable.”

“Could Edelgard be in danger?”

“I do not believe she has hostile intentions. But as I said, I am watching her. So you need not fear for your safety, or Lady Edelgard’s.”

“Thank you.”

Hubert nodded stiffly. Then he left. 

Ferdinand rubbed his forehead, thinking back to the bridge. A memory surfaced from the mess of panic and confusion. Hubert’s face, creased with worry. His steady gloved hand on Ferdinand’s trembling fingers. Quiet assurances when the healers finally arrived that Ferdinand would be fine and live to plague Hubert another day.

And today, the grapes. And _you need not fear for your safety_. 

Ferdinand pondered. He came to the conclusion he’d discovered a most delicious secret: Hubert von Vestra could be kind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience, folks!
> 
> I am writing a double update to make up for the long break between chapters - expect chapter 6 by the end of the coming weekend


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as fast as I would like, apologies
> 
> Most of this chapter is Hubert suffering. You have been warned.

During the journey to Enbarr, Edelgard had desperately tried to get Ferdinand and Byleth to laugh and joke together again. But Byleth was tense and stumbled over her words. Ferdinand was polite but found plenty of reasons to keep himself out of the way. Fruit picking, horse grooming, water fetching...the rest of them were left with nothing to do. 

Thankfully they were spared the company of her loathsome uncle. He seemed to come and go like smoke on the wind, as if physical distance meant nothing. Perhaps he used magic alone to travel. 

Without Ferdinand, they made an awkward three. Hubert would rattle on if prompted but the really interesting stories about his work always came from other people. Byleth’s passions were much simpler.

“If you go and look for water with Ferdinand, perhaps you can do a spot of fishing,” suggested Edelgard.

“Ferdinand does not _want_ me to go with him,” said Byleth. “The more you try and push, like an anxious mother hen, the more he’ll back away. Just leave it. Please.”

So Edelgard left them to avoid each other. She could not _order_ them to be friends. At the same time, she was put out. She’d only been trying to help. Would it kill either of them to cooperate? Why were they acting like Ferdinand’s brain dead delusions _meant_ anything?

As soon as their small battalion reached the capital’s border, they were greeted by the city guard. The approach to the palace was cleared so they could ride directly to the gates. The palace still didn’t feel like home. Perhaps because its stone walls had never protected Edelgard or been enough to save her family. It would always be the place her mother ran from. 

Edelgard only remembered her mother a little. She smelt like flowers and liked to tie ribbons into Edelgard’s hair. The scraps of silk were packed away in a drawer at the monastery, waiting patiently for Edelgard to relinquish her horns. 

Usually an emperor’s homecoming was cause for much celebration. But the soldiers were terse and stiff, obviously working under stress. There would be no smiling, no waving, no flower garlands today. Edelgard glanced around for Hubert. He sat straight in the saddle, scanning their surroundings. He caught Edelgard’s eye and they shared a moment of understanding. Whatever was happening in the city was worse than they thought. 

“Just keep riding, Your Majesty,” said the commander. “Leave the rest to us. The palace is waiting to receive you.”

Edelgard nodded her thanks. They were waved forward. 

Wooden barriers blocked out a narrow aisle for her party to ride through. The barriers served two purposes: physical separation from onlookers and protection from magical assaults. Edelgard would be shadowed closely by the city guard. Hubert rode close on one side, Byleth on the other. Ferdinand brought up the rear. It was strange not to hear him chattering away to his horse. He must be taking the accusations of insanity more seriously than she thought. 

At first, there were only pockets of people here and there, talking in an uneasy murmur. As they made their way into the city properly, where the buildings were more tightly packed, the crowd grew thicker. Edelgard kept her eyes turned forward, her expression neutral. She wanted to look regal, strong. An emperor the people could look up to. 

When they finally turned onto the main avenue to the gates, there was a great roar. People surged forward and pressed up to the barriers, holding up placards with names and pencil portraits.

HAVE YOU SEEN MY BIG SISTER?

MISSING UNCLE

WHERE IS MY DADDY?

Edelgard’s stomach churned. If people were missing...her uncle’s sneering face flashed to the forefront of her mind. But she couldn’t show her horror. All she could do was follow the instructions to keep riding. This last stretch should only take another ten minutes.

Ten minutes was a long time to have all manner of accusations shouted at you. According to the crowd, Edelgard didn’t care about Enbarr or any of its people. She was a liar (sometimes), a heretic (yes) and needed a good fucking (presumably because she was a woman?). And thanks to Edelgard’s war, the goddess had punished the city by taking their loved ones. 

Why hadn’t Hubert known about this? Edelgard glanced towards him again but he was looking at the crowd, one hand off the reins for quick casting. It wasn’t often she saw him rattled. More than anything else, it scared her. Somewhere between Garreg Mach and Enbarr, they had lost control. 

XxX

Ferdinand had hoped for an easy mission sweet talking city nobles followed by a chance to drop by his favourite childhood haunts. Edelgard had made it sound like a quick in and out visit. In all the years he’d been to Enbarr, he’d never seen chaos like this.

The sheer amount of people. The things they were saying about Edelgard, _their emperor_.

He couldn’t see much of Edelgard, just her back. From her posture, she was staying strong. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do the same in her position - he’d probably have started arguing with the crowd. No wonder the city guard hadn’t seemed pleased to see them.

As soon as the palace staff met them at the gates, Edelgard started barking orders. She wanted reports from the city guard, the city council and copies of all the newspapers. Hubert stuck to her side in a way Ferdinand hadn’t seen since the Academy. Byleth stood apart from them, blinking up at the palace. One of the oldest structures in Adrestia, it was built in gold and white with marble pillars. Ferdinand never felt smaller than when he stood in its vast shadow. 

“Byleth. Ferdinand. Follow.”

Ferdinand didn’t think Edelgard _meant_ to make it sound as though she were calling wayward pets to heel. But he felt like one anyway, as he trailed her down the winding corridors. It was easy to get lost - all the halls looked the same with their scarlet flooring and ornate decorations. He could remember following his father as a child, awed at the size of it all.

They stopped at a richly furnished reception room. There were great arched windows with heavy velvet drapes. Without hesitation, Edelgard took the plushest chair. Hubert hovered at her elbow. 

“Sit. All of you.”

Ferdinand ended up on a sofa next to Byleth. It was difficult not to brush up against her. Every instinct he had screamed out she was dangerous, but there was nothing solid to condemn her with. He hated feeling as though they were hurtling for a disaster only he could prevent.

Edelgard was quiet, perhaps taking a moment to gather her thoughts.

“We should put together a team to try and find the people,” Ferdinand said. “If we knew what happened to them-”

“I know what happened to them,” Edelgard said. 

Ferdinand closed his mouth, caught off guard. He was under the impression Edelgard had been as shocked as the rest of them. How could she know anything when they’d only just arrived? 

“Nothing I tell you goes beyond this room. You don’t tell the guard, the press or any of the ministers. You don’t even tell the others in the Strike Force. If you tell them, you’ll get them killed. Understand?”

An icy shiver crept down Ferdinand’s spine. He’d never seen Edelgard like this. Her words were clear and strong, but he could see her shaking. 

“Yes, I understand.”

“Remire Village,” Byleth said softly. 

Ferdinand’s first taste of real terror. The feral villagers struck like beasts. Even gravely injured, they carried on, blood pooling at their feet. He saw the scene in nightmares sometimes. And Tomas, the monastery librarian, sloughed off his skin to reveal a shrivelled husk beneath. 

The Flame Emperor had been there too. Edelgard. What had she been _thinking_? He’d never dared ask. He was frightened of what she might say. It was difficult to believe she had allied with such a person. And at the same time, Jeritza stalked the halls at Garreg Mach. Ferdinand had seen him kill and the thought made him shudder. The way he took pleasure in the blood and the mess and the gore…

Edelgard saw his face.

“I _must_ win this war. Sacrifices and compromises must be made or we don’t stand a chance against the church.”

“You would sacrifice civilians?” The words were leaden on his tongue.

“No! Absolutely not. This is a breach of our...agreement. I would never give them my people. Never.”

Ferdinand wanted to believe her. No, he did believe her. They still wanted the same things. Edelgard was not some unfeeling monster. Just because she was guarded in her compassion didn’t mean she had none. 

“Are you going to run, von Aegir?” asked Hubert. “I wouldn’t blame you.”

“I would not give you the pleasure. I am not the ignorant fool you think I am. I hear the stories. Those beasts rampaging around, always on our military targets. I see those people in dark cloaks with Lord Arundel, coming and going from the monastery. I am only shocked and appalled you have such little faith in us, and our countrymen, that you would want them as allies.” 

“Faith doesn’t win wars,” said Edelgard. “They have been fighting the church since before any of us were born. Our methods are different. Our end goal is the same. If there was another way, I would have found it.”

Right. Ferdinand had forgotten who he was talking to. Of course Edelgard wouldn’t cross her fingers and pray for victory. She’d optimise her chances; more players, more pieces. She and Hubert were always so ruthlessly pragmatic. A good leader weighed up the costs and benefits of their actions. Edelgard had judged the help of such allies a benefit. 

Had they done the same exercise for him? Sat in a room with his name on a list and decided he was worth saving? Why? Hubert had no time for him at the Academy. Edelgard had been marginally friendlier but rolled her eyes whenever he demanded another contest. The thought made him cringe. And then there was his father - Edelgard could have done so much worse than house arrest. Could it be she wanted Ferdinand on side badly enough to spare his father from a poisoned Vestra dagger? Why?

“We’re forgetting something,” said Byleth. “The people are still missing.”

“They wouldn’t,” muttered Hubert. “Not yet. Not now.”

“I think we walked straight into a trap,” said Byleth. “And Lord Arundel is working with these people?”

“Yes. So when he came back with you-” 

“You thought I was a fake. And I have been changed, so perhaps you are not wrong. Perhaps I am a copy, with no memory of my creation.”

Silence as they contemplated this. Ferdinand tried to get his head round the notion of people having copies. Could that explain his experience? Had he only seen false copies of the professor he knew and loved?

“If that were the case,” said Hubert. “You’d be someone else underneath the illusion. That is not the way they like to operate. They like their agents to know exactly who they are and what they’re doing. The other anomaly is your hair colour. It seems foolhardy they would have any illusory copy change it.”

Edelgard reached out to take Byleth’s hand. 

“You’re not a copy. When it comes to you, I just know. I can feel it with my crest. Yours is stronger, more potent. It’s _real_.”

Ferdinand watched Byleth’s fingers curl around Edelgard’s. They had such easy intimacy. Would he ever have that with anyone? Byleth squeezed Edelgard’s hand. 

“We should try and find the people,” said Byleth. “Before things get any worse.”

XxX

Hubert didn’t like leaving Lady Edelgard behind in the palace. But neither did he like the idea of Byleth stepping out alone, not when tensions were so high. Lady Edelgard might ‘know’ this Byleth was not a copy, but Hubert wasn’t convinced. The last thing he wanted was Byleth taking the opportunity to sneak away.

The palace plaza was a major attraction in Enbarr. The streets around it were lined with taverns, cafes and restaurants. The bustling crowds were usually relaxed, with plenty of tourists ready to drop too much gold on market stall souvenirs. Today people were tightly bunched and pressed toward the palace gates. The city guard had dispersed much of the crowd but the atmosphere was still heavy. 

“Vestra. It’s von Vestra!”

Hubert flinched. He usually enjoyed people hissing his name but today it felt like a bad omen. People didn’t usually give him a second glance, unless he was trying to kill them. Why bother, when he was usually standing next to Lady Edelgard, a much more attractive prospect. 

This was his own fault, of course. He should have changed out of his uniform. If only he hadn’t panicked at the prospect of Byleth escaping and insisted she wait. 

Byleth didn’t seem to notice. “Edelgard said talk to the guard commander. Do you know him?”

Hubert knew everyone. What he was less sure about was why none of the spies he’d left in Enbarr had informed him of the situation. Surely they couldn’t all have been silenced? 

“He’ll be at the guard station. This way.”

Hubert led them down a side street, trying to ignore the whispers following them. But then a particularly obnoxious man blocked their path and thrust an accusatory finger. He was portly, with large hands and soot on his clothes. A blacksmith? Or some other tradesman. 

“Where are they, Vestra? What happened to my sisters? Did they go to the same place as your father? Do your hands run red with their blood?”

They didn't have time for this.

“What purpose would there be in killing some nobody’s sister?” snarled Hubert.

“ _What_ did you just say?”

Hubert ducked a punch. “You’re going to break your thumb if you tuck it into your fist like that.”

Byleth pushed the man aside as if he were a wayward branch in the forest. When he attempted to hit her, she threw him to the ground and then whirled to press a foot to his throat. He spluttered for breath, hands flailing uselessly. 

“We’re going to find what happened to your sisters. Just don’t get in the way. OK?”

He nodded, sheer terror misting his eyes. Byleth removed her foot. 

Hubert thought that might be the end of it. But as soon as they stepped onto the main road, there was a scuffle. The city guards were trying to separate people but as soon as they saw Hubert and Byleth, more piled in. The pair of them were surrounded by shouting, jeering faces, with nowhere to run.

Hubert didn’t have the raw strength of someone like Ferdinand or Caspar, but he was trained in hand to hand combat. A scene like this didn’t scare him. The average person had no hope of taking him in a fight. But he didn’t want to hurt anyone if he didn’t have to - he glanced at Byleth. She had her hand on her sword but she hadn’t drawn it yet. 

Then something hit Hubert square in the back. It burned through his clothing and scored directly into his flesh. Dark magic. It ate into his lungs and stole his breath. He choked and choked but couldn’t get air where it was supposed to go. What was this? This was no attack from a commoner. This was _assassination_. A potent spell designed to be a one hit kill. 

“Hubert!” Byleth’s shriek reverberated in his ears. 

It was the last thing he heard. 

No. He couldn’t leave Lady Edelgard like this. Not now. He felt as if he were sinking under a great sea while dark shadows swam overhead. So this was death... This was where people went after he...dispatched them. Perhaps his father was here somewhere, waiting to tell him what a failure he was to the Vestra name. 

Hubert thought of Lady Edelgard. He was scared she wouldn’t manage without him. And he was scared she would. What if she never needed Hubert at all and everything he’d done was pointless? Lady Edelgard had been his salvation. He had never been hers. No, that role went to Byleth. Hubert struggled to find any reason for it, other than her being in the right place at the right time. Love was truly a joke. All those years trying to earn affection and it went to a mercenary who saved her _once_. What a hopeless life he’d led. If Hubert had tried playing the hero, it would convince no one. He hadn’t chosen his face and yet looking at it was like reading his job description: shadowy, cold, do not trust him. 

A bright light interrupted his dark musings. And then he was back in Enbarr. No Byleth. No Lady Edelgard. The time of day had changed. The civilians were gone and in their place, dark mages cast their spells. They wore the cloaks of Vestra Mages. 

“You.” He seized a handful of cloak and yanked the nearest mage to face him. “Report. What’s going on?”

“Sir,” she squeaked. “The Alliance forces approach. I am doing as you ordered and guarding the avenue. We cannot let them surround the palace.”

“The Alliance?” 

“Yes. And they brought the mercenary, sir. The Ashen Demon, reborn.”

Hubert swore. Not very noble of him. Which reminded him - 

“Where is the ever-prattling von Aegir?”

“Sir?” She looked aghast.

“General von Aegir. Where is he?” 

“If you mean _Ferdinand_ von Aegir then...he died at Myrrdin, sir. Months ago. Are you feeling well? Perhaps you should withdraw and-”

Hubert phased out. Just what was going on here? His mind skipped back to Ferdinand’s words at Myrrdin. He’d been so certain of his death on that bridge, by the professor’s hand. And now Hubert was in Enbarr and the professor was coming with the Alliance. And this woman said Ferdinand was dead...

The Alliance wanted Lady Edelgard. They wouldn’t get past Hubert. What else mattered? Even in another life, another time, his loyalty was hers alone. Not like that damn professor. How could she have picked _Claude_?

It was as if the thought of Claude summoned him. First, knights moved in to attack Hubert’s mages. The scent of burning magic filled the air. And then the man himself appeared, on the back of a wyvern.

And below, on the ground, Byleth. She moved in to strike. Hubert attacked. No hesitation. No warning. An excuse to finally take his frustrations out on her, without Edelgard holding him back, was liberating. Five years of simmering anger made for a dense, dangerous spell. Anything hit by it would be obliterated, reduced to a handful of dust.

So of course, Byleth danced around it. As if she had indeed been blessed by some higher power.

Hubert wasn’t watching the sky. A beat of wyvern wings was all the warning he had before the axe came down on him. A lash from the Sword of the Creator followed. There was nothing he could do but slip away, his blood seeping into the paving stones.

_I hope Lady Edelgard rips you both to pieces._

He sank below the city. The shadows were back above him and they were hungry. This time he barely lingered there at all before being thrown back into an Enbarr he didn’t know.

A familiar voice shouted overhead. When Hubert looked up from his miserable post outside the palace, he could see Seteth and a squadron of wyvern riders. Finally, the church. 

He was about to launch a blast of dark magic into the air when a flash of metal drew his attention. He whirled round. Byleth. That startling white hair. He flung his attack at her instead. She stepped around it without flinching. “I must stop Edelgard,” she said. “Get out of the way.”

_The professor killed me_. 

“Never,” said Hubert. “I will not stand for your betrayal and I-”

Byleth sheathed her weapon. “Ferdinand,” she said. “Take care of this.”

Through the smoke of flying spells, a flash of orange. An axe embedded itself into the nearest of Hubert’s mages. They were dead before their body hit the ground. How beautifully efficient. How kind. How like Ferdinand.

Hubert couldn’t help himself. He was drawn in. And as soon as they were face to face, it became apparent this was not Hubert’s Ferdinand. This was _a_ Ferdinand. A gaunt, thin Ferdinand with circles under his eyes. _Oh_ , thought Hubert, _what have they done to you_?

“Hubert. She must leave.”

“You really think you can make her?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think. Those are my orders.”

Hubert couldn't help himself. He laughed. What a joke! If only the Ferdinand he knew had that attitude, he wouldn’t be half so troublesome. There was nothing more deliciously ironic. The goddess, if she were real and taking her revenge, had a twisted sense of humour. 

“You dare to mock me, Vestra, when we have you surrounded and the professor means to kill your emperor? You _disgust_ me!”

_So do you_ , Hubert wanted to say. _This isn’t how you’re meant to be._

Ferdinand charged. Instinct drove Hubert to act. Survive. For Lady Edelgard. He thrust a knife into the leg of Ferdinand’s horse and watched it rear up with a distant kind of fascination. This was how Ferdinand would come to kill him, then. Interesting.

The horse crashed to the ground. Ferdinand slipped from the saddle, lance at the ready. Hubert spun out of reach and let dark magic gather into his hand. 

All he had to do was hit Ferdinand’s heart. Ferdinand was slow without his horse. Hubert would kill him and win the fight. So why wasn’t his hand moving? 

Ferdinand thrust the lance. Hubert stayed frozen. The blade tore through him, merciless. Sticky blood soaked his cape.

Metal clattered to the ground. Then Ferdinand was over him, yelling. Always so bloody loud. “Hubert? Why didn’t you dodge? You could have dodged!”

Hubert coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then grabbed a handful of vibrant hair, yanked as hard as his waning strength allowed. “I want you to remember.” Those eyes, so pretty. Like shining amber jewels. To think, his killer would weep for him. Would Lady Edelgard? 

“I’m sorry, I’m so-”

Black. Water. Sinking.

Why? Why was he spit back into Enbarr yet again? The same miserable set of paving stones, the same miserable end. 

_Lady Edelgard. If I must die, I want to be with her, not out on the street._

Pegasi whirled in the skies above. Hubert skirted a fallen rider with blue livery as he ran for the palace. Faerghus were here. How much time did he have? Surely not much. He could hear the fighting, the roar of soldiers. And the sounds of dying. Smoke filled the air.

The palace grounds were crawling with unfamiliar faces. Those Who Slither laughed at him from every corner as he raced to the throne room. If he could just see Lady Edelgard, maybe everything would make sense again.

The doors opened. And he saw it.

His first thought was that some dark, experimental abomination had copied Lady Edelgard’s face. It was a hulking, skeletal thing with wings and claws. Her face was stretched, her eyes empty of humanity. A sharp pain ripped through his chest. He ran forward, magic in his fist.

“Hubert,” it said. “Wait. It’s me.” And her voice was wrong but so familiar. Confirmation. This creature...was Lady Edelgard. He thought nothing, nothing could break him. But this...He wanted to cry. And he hadn’t cried since the night his father’s men brought him back from his failed rescue mission. 

“What...have they done to you?”

“I chose this. I must win. I must defeat them.”

“Even if you win like this, what will become of you? You’ll be trapped.”

“My life doesn’t matter.” 

_If your life doesn’t matter, then what about mine?_

There was no time to think. There were shouts and the clash of metal. 

Dimitri burst in. Disheveled, panting, a battle scarred lion. And Byleth, hair glowing in the light from the windows.

With a howl, Edelgard attacked. Her long, clawed fingers waved. A dense magic rained down on the throne room, hitting friend and foe alike. Hubert, too stunned to move, was hit. Her magic tasted like desperation. And this time, he truly felt despair. 

The water closed over his head. And then- 

And then, nothing. Hubert was below the water once more. Dead, dead, dead.

The world tilted. Hubert was ready for the nightmare to continue but he was back where he started. The street. The mob. Byleth. Disoriented, he staggered. Everything he’d seen made him feel as if he weighed a million tons. Byleth shoved bodily into him and they fell to the ground together in a tangle of limbs. 

A ball of magic sailed harmlessly over their heads. What in the -? 

“Warp,” said Byleth. She was on top of Hubert, pinning his shoulders to the ground. “Or die.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I add a chapter to this I'm like 'angst intensifies'

Hubert didn’t have time to think. So he warped to the first place he thought of. 

There was a secret network of tunnels under Enbarr Palace. They were useful for concealing the comings and goings of spies and slitherers. Hubert claimed an underground base down there, a small, square cavern fortified with a huge iron door and a magical barrier. Warping there with a traitorous, treasonous _witch_ was not ideal but he’d been caught on the spot. And it was too late now.

Byleth pinned down his arms.

“If you do not get off me this instant I will _melt you_!”

“Not until you listen!” Byleth increased her grip. “Whatever you saw wasn’t real.”

“How can I believe your love for Lady Edelgard when you were going to _murder_ her?”

“That wasn’t _me_! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Hubert kicked and thrashed. Byleth was stronger, but he was taller. If he could just extract himself from underneath her... 

Hubert remembered Byleth carrying Edelgard off the battlefield without losing a single breath. She had a firm grip on him and a knee in his stomach. He needed his hands to cast and there was no way to free himself.

“Since I woke up, my powers aren’t working.”

“Powers? What powers? Do you mean 'Divine Pulse' or whatever you were bleating on about before?” 

“I can turn back time. Just a few seconds. Long enough to save a life.”

“Ridiculous! Next you’ll be telling me you can fly.”

“I can prove it! And if you still don’t believe me, you can throw me in the dungeons. Just give me a chance.”

Hubert stilled. He’d never heard the professor plead, never seen such a look in her eyes. It could all be a trick, he reasoned. Maybe she was one of _them_ after all. Except. Somehow, some feeling, some instinct, told him this was Byleth. Hubert usually dismissed the notion of ‘gut feeling’ but looking into Byleth’s eyes, he could feel it.

“How do you propose to prove such a thing?”

“Tell me a secret.”

“Excuse me?”

“It doesn’t have to be anything important. Just something no one else knows. The name of your first pet. First crush. First time you tried coffee. Anything.” 

“Fine. I’ll play your little game. First, get off me.”

Byleth’s grip tightened, enough to bruise. “As soon as I do, you’ll attack. _Especially_ if you think I hurt Edelgard.”

Hubert grinned. There was no mirth in it. “I see. You want me to trust you, but you do not trust me. Was it not always you who said trust works both ways?”

“I know you too well, Hubert. Give it up. You can tell me a secret or I can knock you unconscious and drag you back to Edelgard.”

Huber huffed out an indignant breath, but there wasn’t much else he could do. He thought about secrets. Everything that immediately came to mind was too big to share. It needed to be something small, something inconsequential. 

“...When I was a child, I had an extensive marble collection.”

“ _Marbles_? You? Really?”

“Disappointed, are you? I suppose you were expecting me to say knives. Or insects.”

“Knives, beetles, the bones of Edelgard’s enemies…”

“Hmph.”

“Do you swear it’s true?” 

“It’s true.”

Byleth took a deep breath. “Right. Hold that thought.”

She squeezed her eyes closed. 

…

…

...

“...if you still don’t believe me, you can throw me in the dungeons. Just give me a chance. Here’s my proof: I know you used to collect marbles as a child.”

Hubert flinched. A cold, creeping feeling shivered along the back of his neck. 

“Who told you that?”

“ _You_ told me. The first time we had this conversation, I asked you to tell me a secret. Something no one else would know.”

Hubert tried to make sense of it. “Any child could have a marble collection.”

“Yes, but Hubert von Vestra?”

Hubert’s marble collection had been the first thing he ever treasured, before even Edelgard. His mother hadn’t been _affectionate_ but when she was alive she’d cart him round the houses of her noble friends. The gin would come out and Hubert would be forced to socialise with other children. Some were afraid because he was a von Vestra. Others tried to bully him. 

One boy had been frightened of a ‘monster’ living in his room. So Hubert spent all afternoon chasing a wily spider. He had nothing better to do and he felt a little sorry for it, hated and feared because it was so unsightly. At first he’d been going to squash it, but in the end he trapped it in a garish decorative bowl and put it outside. 

The boy gifted him a ball of shiny green glass as a reward. By the time Hubert left, he’d won more. He was better at playing marbles than making friends. Soon he had a small collection, which he hid under a loose floorboard in his room. 

He still had those marbles, hidden among his meagre belongings. Maybe it was daft to hold on to them, but they were the only thing from his childhood worth saving. 

Like so many other noble children, the boy with the marbles had taken ill and died. Or so the story went. 

Byleth watched his carefully blank face. “Did anything happen to you? Did you see the same conversation again in a different timeline?”

“No. You are talking absolute gibberish!”

“Tell me another secret. I can do this again and again. Until you believe me.” 

Finally, Byleth let go of Hubert’s wrists. He sat up and rubbed the marks on his skin. The warp spell had left him tired but he could attack. Blast this mad woman with a Mire and run to Lady Edelgard.

Except. 

It _could_ be true. Nothing else came close to explaining what he’d experienced, those different versions of events. And Ferdinand too. He’d been unrecognisable at Myrddin, a shaking wreck. 

“Before I woke up, no one remembered anything apart from me saving them. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Lord Arundel must have done something to you. Changed your powers. Made you stronger.”

“I thought he turned people into monsters.”

“No ordinary person can do what you can. Some might call you a monster. Though I have to ask - if you can really undo death as you claim, what about your father?”

“I tried. It wasn’t enough. It was like they - they knew about my powers. And they could counteract them.”

Hubert thought he knew the game board and all of the pieces in play. But Byleth’s words made him feel like he’d missed the point completely. He’d assumed Lady Edelgard was the centre of the slitherers plans. But what if it was Byleth?

Before he could continue to question her, the room began to rumble and shake. Pens rolled off the desk and a potion smashed on the dusty floor. Byleth stumbled for her feet, grasping for the hilt of her sword.

“What now?”

“A door. I think a door just opened.”

***

A stack of missing person reports were brought in to Edelgard and Ferdinand. Tea was cleared away to make room for the papers. Ferdinand picked up the top sheet - name, address, birthday, height, eye colour, hair colour, distinguishing features and the last time the person was seen.

“There are not as many as I feared,” said Ferdinand. “I am sure together we could work through them all in an afternoon. We could put together a map and a timeline, see if we can trace the enemy’s movements.”

Edelgard rubbed her eyes. She looked tired. “You shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have asked you to come.”

Ferdinand tossed the paper back down again. “Do you not trust me? Or perhaps you doubt my abilities? Though if you were more interested in building bridges rather than burning them, perhaps I might be more effective.”

...He shouldn't have said that. Every move Edelgard made was calculated, reasoned. Yes, perhaps it would be easier if she gave quarter every now and again to Adrestia's remaining skeleton leadership. But that wasn't her way. It was his job to smooth her path as best he could. The journey to social equality would never be an easy one. He hadn't stayed because he thought it would be easy.

Edelgard’s eyes hardened. “You can leave whenever you want. In fact, you should do so at once if that is the way you feel.”

Ferdinand looked away, unable to stop tears springing to his eyes. Even though he'd spoke out of turn, he wanted Edelgard to protest, to fight for him. Stupid really, to expect the Flame Emperor to go down on bended knee and beg him to stay. But she could at least pretend to care. Just a little. 

“You wish for me to leave then.”

“Of course not! But it isn’t safe here. These people aren’t ordinary enemies. They could be anyone, anywhere. Before you know it, I’ll be writing another report: Ferdinand von Aegir, orange hair, orange eyes, Crest of Cichol. Last seen in Enbarr.”

Did she really think so little of him, that he’d fall prey to whatever villains came across him? Ferdinand fought back his temper. Shouting at Edelgard never did any good, it only made him look foolish while she watched with flinty eyes. 

Instead, he rose. His legs shook. “I do not believe leaving you is the right course of action. If we are to face a dangerous enemy, then surely there is strength in numbers. However, I am bound to follow the commands of my emperor.”

Edelgard let out a small ‘hmph’. “So you have finally learnt something from Hubert.”

“What are your orders, Your Majesty?”

Edelgard gave him a long, considered look. “Sit down. One Hubert is plenty. Perhaps you are right. Such a dangerous enemy should be faced together. But if they come for you Ferdinand, and there is no hope of victory, you must promise you will run.”

“I am no coward. I would give my life for you.”

“They will not take it. They will want you alive. So run. Promise me, right here, right now.”

Ferdinand flinched at the steel in her tone. “...I promise.”

“Good.” Edelgard nodded. Her shoulders slumped as she - not relaxed, exactly, but unwound a little. 

There was a knock at the door. Another pile of reports arrived. Edelgard stacked the piles and then neatly divided them in half. She pushed one of them towards Ferdinand.

“Let us see what we can find.”

The next time Ferdinand looked up, the sun through the arched window was low in the sky. He studied the map he’d created, each location marked with a star. 

People had been taken from all over the city. But there was no mistaking it - the stars thickened into a spiralling ring around the palace. 

“Edelgard,” he said. 

She was hunched over her own papers and maps. He tapped the table to get her attention. Her eyes went to the map. As she looked it over, her frown deepened.

“Just as I feared,” she said. He’d never heard her voice so small. “This is all my fault.”

Another knock on the door. A maid entered. Ferdinand looked for more papers but she was empty handed.

“Your Majesty. Lord Arundel has arrived. Should I show him in?”

Edelgard hesitated. “Yes. Please do.”

The maid curtsied and Edelgard sat a little straighter, correcting her posture. 

Lord Arundel entered a moment later. His smile made Ferdinand uneasy - too many teeth. His bow was a little too shallow, his tone a little too sweet. “How wonderful it is, to be back in the illustrious capital.”

“You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself,” said Edelgard. She glanced at Ferdinand’s map.

“Do not be like that, Your Majesty. Come, there is something I wish to show you. A surprise for my favourite niece.”

“I dislike surprises.”

“I think you’ll be pleased with this one. Bring General Aegir too.”

Edelgard didn’t want to go. Ferdinand didn’t either but it felt like they weren’t being given the choice. He watched Edelgard - he could back her up if she protested. But she merely rose to her feet, as if she were a puppet and Arundel held her strings.

***

Edelgard wished Hubert and Byleth had stayed in the palace. Hubert in particular knew how to handle her ‘uncle’. Why had she let him go? Byleth would have protected her, too. Not even Arundel would dare stand against the Sword of the Creator. Where had they got to? Surely they hadn’t run round all of Enbarr?

She still had Ferdinand, despite almost sending him back to Garreg Mach. He was a good fighter, quick on his feet. He wasn’t as smart as Hubert but he could hit harder. Still, it suited Arundel right down to the ground to have them both in the same place. If anything happened to him…

No. She was his emperor. She would protect him and she would protect her people.

Ferdinand trod the respectful half step behind her while Arundel led them towards doom. Otherwise known as...the throne room?

“In you go,” said Arundel, white teeth gleaming.

Edegard approached the throne. She still half expected to see her father sat upon it, wine glass in hand and women at his feet. They hadn’t loved each other, exactly. They’d merely had a shared understanding. They were shackled by the church and by the Adrestian nobles. Her father was an emperor only in name. 

“Take a seat, Your Majesty.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Ferdinand demanded.

“So impatient! You will soon see.”

Edelgard took the throne. It didn’t feel like a seat worth fighting for. It never had. Yet here she was, simply because her father happened to be an emperor.

Arundel clapped his hands. The room rumbled, from top to bottom. Paintings on the walls shook. Ferdinand looked to Edelgard for guidance but she had none to give him. She glanced towards a ceremonial sword display. Not ideal. An axe would have been better, but she could work with what she had. 

A series of heavy thumps echoed from beneath the floor. They grew louder and louder.

“You mean to attack me so brazenly?” Edelgard asked. She rose, more than ready to reach for a weapon. 

And then, from the stairs, a beast, led on chains by two hooded mages. It had a long scaled body. On its back perched a minute pair of wings. It was closer to a dragon than previous efforts but whatever it was supposed to be, it was horrific. It opened its mouth to roar, pointed teeth snapping. 

Ferdinand flinched back in a way unlike him. The beast paid little attention to Edelgard and looked straight at him through one narrowed eye, head tilting. Ferdinand drew his sword. At least one of them was armed.

“You feel it, don’t you?” said Arundel. “It is born of Cichol’s blood. Your blood.”

Dread sunk bone deep into Edelgard. She knew they must have wanted crested blood for a reason. But for this...

“My blood? Explain yourself!”

“I mean just what I said. Your blood. Kindly donated by Her Majesty in exchange for tracking down that cursed professor of yours.”

“Edelgard?” Ferdinand’s tone wavered. She could see him turning the words over in his mind, not knowing what to think, what to do. 

She could lie. But she’d dragged Ferdinand into this mess and it didn’t seem fair. “I’m sorry. I had to find Byleth, no matter the cost.”

Ferdinand looked betrayed. Hurt. Confused. Edelgard hadn’t felt so uncertain of his reaction since she’d deposed his father. The thought of losing Ferdinand left her bilious. She wanted her friends by her side, where they belonged. 

Still no Hubert and no Byleth. 

“I haven’t even told you the best part,” said Arundel. “You see, this lovely creature can be _commanded_ by someone holding the Crest of Cichol. Even a simpleton like General Aegir.”

“How many people?” demanded Edelgard. “How many people did it take to make that thing?”

“What does it matter? Are you not pleased? With such creatures, the Imperial Army will sweep Fodlan. The beasts are mere weapons. They will win the war.”

Edelgard always thought she’d accept any cost to win. Many of the soldiers conscripted into battle would die in muddy fields. Her choices meant they had to fight. Was it really so different if some of them gave their lives to become beasts instead? They were dead either way. If she could defeat the church, their lives would have been used for something good. She was fighting not for them, but their children. That’s how she’d always seen it. 

And yet...the thought turned her stomach. Dying in battle was valiant, a death to be proud of. Dying as some monster, with no one able to see you, to know you, to respect the path you’d chosen...

Surely there was no worse fate than that?

“I forbid you from creating more. I shall not have beasts roaming around Enbarr. You would do well to remember this is my home and its people are under my protection. Is that understood?”

“Your _protection_ ,” laughed Arundel. “And yet you send so many into battle to die for your war. My beasts will _prevent_ deaths, you ungrateful little chit.”

“Do not speak to her that way,” snapped Ferdinand. “She is your emperor.”

“No, she is not. And I tire of acting. I go out of my way to present an extraordinary gift and do not receive so much as a _thank you_. You’re just as good to me dead. I’m sure your bones would make excellent weaponry.”

Edelgard laughed. “If you’d like a taste of my crest, by all means give it your best shot.”

Calling his bluff was a risky strategy. But she knew Arundel was afraid of her power. That was why they had an alliance to begin with. The abilities bestowed upon her were a double edged sword.

Arundel drew his weapon. “Let me teach you a lesson. I’m sure you’ll find me a much better teacher than your dear professor.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted an AU that put those who slither in the dark at the forefront of the Crimson Flower route and explores what they may have done if Byleth fell into their hands
> 
> The focus is going to be on Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand and Byleth and their relationships with each other as well as the romances.
> 
> It's been a while since I attempted long fic, so please bear with me. I'm still learning how to write in so many ways.
> 
> @MachineQueen4 for more from me!


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